Expert advice: companies recovering from the COVID-19 crisis

How will organizations transition from survival mode to a comprehensive post-pandemic recovery plan? 3 experts in Global Human capital practice came together to answer the most glaring questions on the matter.

As restrictions lift and nations cautiously step out into the light, the way businesses have been trying to recover from COVID-19 so far, can be split (generally) into 2 categories. According to Steven Hatfield, Principal Global Future of Work Leader at Deloitte, there are industries and sectors who had a ramp up and those who had a ramp down.

As examples, Hatfield says, some sectors in the retail space hired more staff to help with deliveries, production lines, as well as take on new business models such as ‘delivery only’ and drive-through options as well as utilizing digital solutions apps.

Healthcare companies as another example, assess supplies and how to get the needed supplies to the right people and from the right providers, which requires hiring more experts, adopting advanced tech, and shifting their business model to mirror the crisis.

On the other side, we have sectors like hospitality and airlines that struggle to extend their digital work and keep their workforce connected to one another and to the outside world. Such are the challenges that Deloitte have attempted to aid their clients with.

Those organizations who were with the remote work trend, Hatfield explains, were obviously more prepared, and can recover from COVID-19 much more smoothly. Taking advantage of alternative work forces like freelancers and gig economy, as an example, is one trend that companies embraced and are now getting more popular than ever before.

“We’re suggesting a rethink”. Says Hatfield. “So, by that it gets right into the heart of the re-imagination of work. You need to rethink about what it is that people are doing and the way they are doing it, which tools, to Mark’s point, make sense to use, how to reconfigure parts of the workplace, and reconfigure the work in a way that used the workplace differently”.

The first hurdle is overcoming the status quo and getting a team to commit to new ways of working.” Says Mark Holmstrom, Principal Global Future of Work Leader, and an expert in virtual work at Deloitte. ”And then, the second hurdle is to create a habit, and [new habits] require new behaviors”. 

These questions are to be asked and assessed business to business, as different organizations need different plans, methods and systems. Every business must think for itself and devise the best method to recover from COVID-19 and take their new-found identities to the next level.

Virtual Interview Source: Deloitte.